British Gas Complaint. Backbilling, 2 years no bill and then £2000! HELP

ackelly

bob_bank_spanker wrote: »

Why do you feel "bad" for the OP? They got away with approx £4k worth of energy and only have to pay half back?

I would love it if a huge company showed me such generosity :rotfl:

Ha I wish that was the case. I am not getting anything free I have been in the house two years and I am paying for two years, no half price payments here! That's what I was told but then they took it all away and said I had been misadvised!!! Hence this forum!

Thanks everyone for your advice and help. I am going to see what I can get my monthly payments down if I offer them £1,000, I am hoping £150. My husband and parents still think we should go to the ombudsman but I don't really think we will get anywhere as we have used the amount outstanding, it's just the shoddy service and advice we were given by British Gas that has really !!!!ed us off!!

Greek

bob_bank_spanker wrote: »

Why do you feel "bad" for the OP? They got away with approx £4k worth of energy and only have to pay half back?

I would love it if a huge company showed me such generosity :rotfl:

I feel bad for her because I have spent the past 6 months trying to get BG to fix my meter- it was left in debt when I bought my house- they won't change the metre and its taking money off me every time I top it up for a debt that has nothing to do with me. Despite what must now be hundreds of hours on the phone, a shed load of complaints etc every time I call I wait 30 minutes, get through to someone, get cut off, cll back, get told something completely different to the last time I rang. They are completely useless, and regardless of circumstance I feel bad for her because she'll be having the same horrid time.

I don't see how this is acceptable from such a huge company-

SwanJon

BG (or any other supplier) have 8 weeks to resolve a complaint, after which you can go to the ombudsman. There is no guarantee of a result in your favour though.

I'd start making payments now to cover your ongoing consumption, at least to stop the bill getting any bigger, but also to show willing.

You mention that your husband was out of work - without knowing your situation I can't be sure, but it is probably worth getting in touch with the British Gas Energy Trust to see if they can help clear some or all of the balance.

Greek - If your meter is still recovering a balance that you do not owe, they should be able to remove it with a message - it's unlikely that anything is wrong with the meter itself.
They may ask you to prove that you are not the previous tenant before they do this.
To make it easier for them, have all the info ready when you call (meter serial number, information from the screens etc) - or include it in a letter.

pops5588

OP, I am sorry that you have the stress of this but as someone who also recently bought a house and wasn't made aware of our electricity and gas suppliers, after a quick google of "electricity suppliers" this popped up:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-and-electricity/find-my-supplier/

I phoned that number and I was told everything I needed to know without a customer number. The information is out there, you were just supposed to look a bit more carefully for it.

Sorry, but I know that if I managed it anyone can.

runaroundpauper

I had same issue 12 years ago they sent a bill 15 months later I replied with equitable estopple legal eagles or the savvy on here will advise more if the company cannot send a bill in a reasonable time frame then it is void

Womble62

I feel for you, I just stubbled upon this as I have been trying to register my Gas smart meter for the last 3 months, I have tried my supposed supplier BG who says the meter does not exist, I have tried the meter council who have no record of my meter, I don't have a MPNR number. I am using gas, I need to pay for it, but no one has a record, no MPNR no customer. The builder can't release my meter as BG won't send them a bill as the meter is not registered! I can't register it either. So despite the quotes of people saying you can register meters dead easy, you can't. I have spent over 20 hours on the phone trying to sort this as I don't want to be in the same situation as you are, so I do really feel for you. If anyone can help me pay for my gas please PM me.

spiro

ackelly wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your advice and help. I am going to see what I can get my monthly payments down if I offer them £1,000, I am hoping £150. My husband and parents still think we should go to the ombudsman but I don't really think we will get anywhere as we have used the amount outstanding, it's just the shoddy service and advice we were given by British Gas that has really !!!!ed us off!!

Paying £1000 up front instead of £830.29 will only reduce the monthly DD from £235 to £221. £120 is about the average monthly cost so £150pm would only be paying back £30, not going to happen.

insanegloss

Womble62 wrote: »

I feel for you, I just stubbled upon this as I have been trying to register my Gas smart meter for the last 3 months, I have tried my supposed supplier BG who says the meter does not exist, I have tried the meter council who have no record of my meter, I don't have a MPNR number. I am using gas, I need to pay for it, but no one has a record, no MPNR no customer. The builder can't release my meter as BG won't send them a bill as the meter is not registered! I can't register it either. So despite the quotes of people saying you can register meters dead easy, you can't. I have spent over 20 hours on the phone trying to sort this as I don't want to be in the same situation as you are, so I do really feel for you. If anyone can help me pay for my gas please PM me.

Again, this is likley an IGT and there are a few tricks to finding your MPRN (I've only ever heard of having to create an MPRN on an IGT once) you'll need your Meter Serial Number, in full and this will be YYYY XXXXXX as in the YYYY are a year and the remaining numbers are the serial. To search for this, the supplier can search on GTC website and try the meter serial number in a variety of formats eg, YYYYXXXXXX, YYYY XXXXXX or XXXXXX. The MSN can also start E6 or G4, but these are easier to find.

Once done, you should have your MPRN, therefore get a bill.

Womble62

insanegloss wrote: »

Again, this is likley an IGT and there are a few tricks to finding your MPRN (I've only ever heard of having to create an MPRN on an IGT once) you'll need your Meter Serial Number, in full and this will be YYYY XXXXXX as in the YYYY are a year and the remaining numbers are the serial. To search for this, the supplier can search on GTC website and try the meter serial number in a variety of formats eg, YYYYXXXXXX, YYYY XXXXXX or XXXXXX. The MSN can also start E6 or G4, but these are easier to find.

Once done, you should have your MPRN, therefore get a bill.

Just to say, I wish I had stumbled upon this site earlier! thank you very very much, I phoned the GTC website, spoke with a very helpful lady, emailed a picture of the meter. She rang me back with everything I needed. Now started the migration process, as British Gas cannot help me, so stuff them. Once again thanks for the help.

Womble62

insanegloss wrote: »

Again, this is likley an IGT and there are a few tricks to finding your MPRN (I've only ever heard of having to create an MPRN on an IGT once) you'll need your Meter Serial Number, in full and this will be YYYY XXXXXX as in the YYYY are a year and the remaining numbers are the serial. To search for this, the supplier can search on GTC website and try the meter serial number in a variety of formats eg, YYYYXXXXXX, YYYY XXXXXX or XXXXXX. The MSN can also start E6 or G4, but these are easier to find.

Once done, you should have your MPRN, therefore get a bill.

Just to say, I wish I had stumbled upon this site earlier! thank you very very much, I phoned the GTC website, spoke with a very helpful lady, emailed a picture of the meter. She rang me back with everything I needed. Now started the migration process, as British Gas cannot help me, so stuff them. Once again thanks for the help.